Seamless hosiery



May 15, 1928.

1,669,591 J. c. WILLIAMS SEAMLESS HOSIERY Filed April 8. 1927 Fiji lA/I/E/VTOR JAMES C. WILLIAMS by izzs aziorm ya Patented May 15, 1928.

UNITED STATES 1,669,591 PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES C. WILLIAM S, OF DALTON, GEORGIA, ASSIGNOB TO DALTON HOSIERY MILLS, 0F DALTON, GEORGIA, A CQRPOBATIOIN OF GEORGIA.

BEAMLESB EOSIEBY.

v Application filed April 8, 1927. Serial No. 182,041.

a stocking whose toe pocket is so shaped that it will not be visible when worn with the slipper type of shoe. Another object of the invention is. to obtain a stocking with this improved appearance without the presence of the ucker or surplus fabric, commonly called t e dog ear, found on, the innerend of the gore or diagonal suture of a toe pocket such as is formed on seamless hosiery machines. Another object of the invention is to increase the length of the sole of the stocking relatively to the length of the 1nstep in order that the stocking may conform more nearly to the natural shape of the foot, thus eliminating wrinkles on the instep and avoiding strain upon the sole of the stocking. Another ob]ect of the inventlon is to provide a stocking which can be manufactured more quickly and with less yarn and be a better fitting and better looking stocking than heretofore.

In the example given in the drawings Fig. 1 represents a stocking having a toe made according to the new invention; and

Fig. 2 represents a modified form of toe; while Fig. 3 represents another modified form of toe.

In the specification the word stocking is meant to include hose, half hose, or any other foot wear, the invention being applicable to any form of knitted foot wear having toe pockets with diagonal sutures.

The toe of an ordinary modern. seamless stocking consists of a pocket having a narrowed web and a widened web. WVhen the stocking is knit from top to toe, this toe pocket is manufactured by a narrowing and widening operation in which one needle is picked out of action at each reciprocation when narrowing, i. e., during the formation of the first or lower half of the toe, and two needles are picked into action and one icked out of action for each reciprocation 1n the second half of the toe. This makes the narrowed and widened webs of the same size and gives them the same number of courses from the point of the toe to the outer edge of each web. According to the present inventlon a lesser number of courses is knit in the top or widened web than in the narrowed web. In the example shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings this is done by picking the needles into action ata uniformly faster rate than the were picked out'in forming the lower hal of the toe. For example during the widening operation which forms the second half of the toe, two needles may be picked into action at every reciprocation, as usual, but no needles picked out of action.

This produces a low web 910l1 for the second half of the toe which is half the size of the web 79-11 forming the first half of the toe. In other words, the distance from the point of the stocking to the loopers rounds is approximately half what it would be on the normal too. This reduces the amount of fabric in the stocking and consequently the cost, and at the same time improves t e appearance of the stocking when worn with the slipper type of shoe. This improvement in appearance is due to the fact that the heavy yarn of which the toe is knit does not extend too far from the point of the toe toward the instep and therefore is hidden under the instep portion of the shoe, whereas in the case of the ordinary toe the loopers rounds and the heavy yarns are apt to be visible.

It should be understood that the invention is not limited to a structure inwhicn the low web is formed by picking two necdles down and picking up noueother manipulations can be used.

In the ordinary stocking having a seamless toe pocket there is surplus fabric forming a. dog ear, or pucker at the inner end 9 of the diagonal suture 18 at each side of the toe owing to the reduced amount of fabric radiating from the inner end of the suture. The resulting low toe just dcscriliied tends to further reduce the amount of. fabric radiating from this point in the stocking, making the dog car very prominent. For the purpose of eliminating this dog car the improvement which forms the subject matter of my Patent 1,621,343, dated March 15, 1927, can advantageously be employed with the low toe. In the drawings this is shown as a tapered segment of fabric 68-9-7 on the sole of the stocking between the foot and the toe pocket the points 9 of the tapered segment coinciding with the inner ends of the iagonal sutures. This segment not only results in having more fabric radiating from the inner end 9 of the diagonal suture 18 but puts more fabric between the point 11 of the toe of the stocking and the point of the heel opposite the end of the suture 14, thus decreasing the len th of the stocking from the instep 12 to the point of the toe relatively to the distance from the point of the toeto the heel. This increase in the length of the sole and the decrease in the length of the instep due to the low toe improve the fit of the stocking tremendously,

- the human foot being much longer on the sole than on the top.

The stocking can be even further im- Iproved if the widenedweb of the toe pocket as portions containing diflerentang tween the diagonal suture and the upper edge of the web. Thus in Fig. 2 the portion adjacent the inner ends of the sutures has a more obtuse angle than the portion near the point of the toe. This is accomplished by increasing the number of active needles less rapidly during the last few courses, i. e., in the wales from point 14 to point 9. A toe ocket made according to this figure will iave a lower toe than normal-though not as low as the toe shown in Fig. 1-and yet the amount of fabric in the toe will tend to reduce the dog ears found in the plain low toe of Fig. 1 when not accompanied by the segment 6-8 9-7.

In the ordinary slipper type of shoe the instep is cut lowest at the top of the shoe and therefore the toe of the stocking can sometimes be kept of normal size for purposes of wear provided it is low at the middle of the top. I have discovered a construction of toe which gives this maximum wearing surface without exposure of the toe pocket by the shoe and which in addition tends to eliminate the dog ears found in Fig. 1 even when it does not include the segment 6-897. This toe is shown in Fig. 3 and includes a toe T--916--17-11 whose widened web has a more acute angle nearer the inner ends 9 of the diagonal suture than near the point-11 of the toe. This ma be constructed by increasing the number 0 active needles less rapidly in the first reciprocations forming the widened web than in the last reciprocations. Thus for example when beginnin the widened web two needles may be picke down and one up, but when the wale at point 16 is reached the machine can be made to pick two down and none up at each reciprocation till it reaches the inner ends 9 of the sutures.

It will be observed that a toe pocket manufactured according to my invention requires fewer reciprocations andtherefore less time for its manufacture. Furthermore the reduction in the number of courses in the upper web of the toe pocket reduces the amount of yarn required. 1

Still another feature of interest is that the diagonal sutures. can be carried closer to the oint of the toe without increasing the numer of courses in the widened Web as compared with the normal toe.

This invention is not concerned with the shape of the picks or the mechanism which operate them, but relates solely to the stocking.

What I claim is:

1. A stocking having a toe ocket comprising tapered narrowed and widened webs, the web constituting the upper part of the toe pocket containlng different an les between its upper and lower edges, t e portion of said web adjacent the inner edge of the toe having the more obtuse angle.

2. A stocking having a toe pocket comprising tapered narrowed and widened webs, the web constituting the upper part of the toe pocket containing different angles between its upper and lower edges, the portion of said web adjacent the inner edge of the toe having the more obtuse angle, in combination with a tapered segment between the foot and the toe pocket, only the points of said segment touching the diagonal sutures.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

JAMES C. WILLIAMS. 

